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Martial Peak · Chapter 2499

Chapter 2499: Under Heaven and Earth, All Living Beings Are Ants

January 17, 2020 · 7 min read · 1,401 words

Time trickled by as the Golden Sacred Dragon continuously devoured the might of heaven and earth, and 's strength grew steadily in response. As one waxed and the other waned, the power of heaven and earth appeared ever weaker by comparison.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the celestial phenomenon above 's head dissipated completely, and calm returned.

The thunder and lightning were gone. The apocalyptic sight of clouds pressing down as though the sky itself were collapsing had vanished without a trace.

Every wisp of spiritual energy and worldly force in the surroundings had been drawn into his body. Though he sat perfectly still, the bones within him crackled and popped with a string of explosive sounds that carried an unmistakable air of jubilation.

This breakthrough, it seemed, had passed without incident.

and Duan Hongchen both stared slack-jawed, their minds blank for a long while, utterly stunned by what they had witnessed.

But felt not the slightest hint of joy. On the contrary, a vague but alarming sensation of dread stirred within him — stronger even than what he had felt during the breakthrough itself. It was as if something truly terrifying was about to happen.

He could clearly sense that his cultivation had not truly reached the Emperor Venerable realm. Instead, it had halted right at the threshold, separated by a single step.

What was going on?

The celestial phenomenon accompanying the breakthrough had already vanished, and he had endured the terrifying bombardment of worldly energy — so why had he still not advanced to the Emperor Venerable realm? Even as confusion gripped , the sense of unease grew ever stronger.

At that moment, a majestic and awe-inspiring force suddenly surged into being from between heaven and earth. It condensed into a streak of light and plummeted toward the crown of 's head, swift as a bolt of lightning.

's expression changed drastically. Before this majestic force, he felt a sensation of absolute helplessness — as though, the moment that streak of light reached him, he would be annihilated beyond all trace.

Moreover, the descending aura carried a feeling that was at once familiar and foreign, as though he had glimpsed it somewhere before.

"The Power of Heaven and Earth!" and Duan Hongchen cried out in unison, their eyes wide as they stared in the direction where stood. The emotions of these two Great Emperors became impossibly complicated in an instant — neither had any idea what had done to invoke the Power of Heaven and Earth during his attempt to break through to the Emperor Venerable realm.

The Power of Heaven and Earth was an extraordinarily unique and wondrous force, more profound and mysterious than even laws or origins.

The various Great Emperors had mastered countless laws, wielding the power of law and origin in battle with effortless ease. Yet the Power of Heaven and Earth was something no one could afford to take lightly.

It was the power of heaven and earth itself.

Under heaven and earth, all living beings were nothing more than ants. If heaven and earth willed you to live, you lived. If they willed you to die, you died. Even a figure like the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor could not fully command the Power of Heaven and Earth. That was precisely why Duan Hongchen had been able to secretly wound him earlier.

For tens of thousands of years, Duan Hongchen had repeatedly severed his own cultivation, wandering in circles on the path of martial cultivation, thrashing about in the mortal world — and in doing so, he had come to comprehend the Force of the Mortal World, a power that was itself a form of the Power of Heaven and Earth. Naturally, it could inflict harm upon the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor.

Even so, Duan Hongchen's Force of the Mortal World still could not compare to the true Power of Heaven and Earth.

When the Power of Heaven and Earth manifested, it was tantamount to the very will of heaven and earth! No one could resist it.

That boy is dead! The two Great Emperors had thought they were witnessing the birth of a prodigy, only for it to end like this. They couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy. How could possibly stand against such power?

The spectral image of the Golden Sacred Dragon threw back its head and roared, surging into the sky to wage battle against heaven and earth itself.

The streak of light descended, and the golden dragon's spectral image shattered instantaneously, vanishing in the blink of an eye. The force carried on without diminishing, hurtling toward the crown of 's head.

looked up, his gaze cold and clear.

Only in raging tides and turbulent seas does a hero reveal his true colors. In this moment of mortal crisis, 's mind suddenly became impossibly lucid, and his entire being settled into an astonishing calm.

He flicked his finger, and the Mountain and River Bell was instantly summoned. The ancient bell expanded in the wind, swelling to the size of a house in a single instant. The intricate patterns and engravings on its surface came alive as though imbued with spirit, flowing and shifting in vivid motion.

A overwhelming aura of suppression radiated outward, filling heaven and earth!

"The Mountain and River Bell!" Duan Hongchen's eyes went wide, his face drained of color as he cried out in horror. "The Mountain and River Bell — it's Yuan Ding's Mountain and River Bell!"

's ghostly flames danced wildly in his eyes. He abandoned even his struggle against Duan Hongchen, staring fixedly in 's direction with a gaze that was equal parts shock and burning desire.

From 's breakthrough to the Emperor Venerable realm up to this moment, every reserve of power he had revealed, every means he had employed, had astonished both Great Emperors to their core. In the past, neither could have imagined that a single person could possess so many extraordinary treasures.

The Golden Sacred Dragon was the ancestor of the Dragon Clan, long since rumored to have perished — yet its origin power had appeared within . And Yuan Ding's Mountain and River Bell was a primordial relic, a treasure that even Great Emperors coveted. During the ancient war among the Emperors, Yuan Ding had burned the very last of his strength to cast it into the void, and it had been lost ever since. Now it too blazed with a strange and wondrous light in 's hands.

Just who was this boy, to be so favored by heaven and earth?

However, with this realization, the two Great Emperors began to understand why 's breakthrough to the Emperor Venerable realm had provoked the intervention of the Power of Heaven and Earth.

Throughout his growth, he must have enjoyed limitless fortune and immeasurable blessings. But the Heavenly Dao was fair and impartial. On the path of martial cultivation, every gain came with a loss. The more fortunate and talented a martial artist was, the greater the resistance they faced during a breakthrough — a direct proportionality that held true without exception.

No one could explain why this was so, but from ancient times to the present, there had never been an exception.

For a person who possessed both the origin power of the Golden Sacred Dragon and the Mountain and River Bell to not draw the targeted intervention of the Power of Heaven and Earth would simply be unthinkable.

Having realized this, the two Great Emperors no longer felt any trace of pity for . The tribulation he faced was an inevitability — even if it hadn't manifested now, it would have descended upon him sooner or later. It was merely a question of when, and there was no way to avoid it.

The earlier baptism of worldly force had been nothing more than an appetizer. This strike from the Power of Heaven and Earth was the true ordeal.

If he could endure it, would soar to unimaginable heights. If he could not, his annihilation would be a fate beyond reproach.

", you're the more worldly-wise of us — do you think he can survive it?" Duan Hongchen swallowed hard and asked.

End of chapter 2499